A need exists for an effective and secure mechanism for connecting various components together which provides an easily discernible visual indication of status.
A further need exists for simplifying and speeding the process for connecting various components together while concurrently ensuring a full and secure connection.
These needs are amplified in industrial environments where many connections are critical to safe operation of equipment and the failure of a connection can result in costly equipment damage, downtime of operations, severe injuries or death to personnel.
In chemical processing or oil and gas operating environments, there are often cylindrical components or components with cylindrical connectors that need to be attached or locked together. Examples include, but are not limited to, blowout preventers, piping, valves, sensors, pressure relief equipment, and the like.
Often these pieces of equipment function under harsh conditions such as extremely high pressures and temperatures. Failure of connections between components serving critical functions, especially in harsh environments, could have undesirable, catastrophic, and life threating consequences.
In the current state of the art, many of these connections are threaded connections requiring operators to make a specific number of turns to properly connect or lock pieces of equipment together. Further, there is no facility once components have been attached to verify that the connection has been accomplished in the proper manner.
Also in the current state of the art, many connections make use of lugs or pins that absorb the stresses due to pressure, temperature, weight, and the like that the connections are subjected to. While lugs and pins are an effective means of connecting components, current connections lack a simple and effective locking means that provide either a visual, electronic, or hydraulic indication of secure engagement.
Connections between equipment could be made improperly by a careless or inexperienced operator, creating a potentially hazardous situation with no way to easily verify the status of the connection.
The present invention meets these needs with a simple and easy to implement locking system, wherein the locking status can be visually verified onsite where the device is located as well as monitored in a control room. The present invention further simplifies the procedure for connection by eliminating the need for threaded connections, and implementing a simple to use, and intuitive system for locking components together that requires little to no training for proper use.
The present embodiments are detailed below with reference to the listed Figures.